


The Spiders from Egypt

by itssoverynicetomeetyou



Series: What I'd write for Series 12 [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multiple Doctors (Doctor Who), Timeline Crossover, a bit like the 50th annivesary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-09-13 01:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 18,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16882770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itssoverynicetomeetyou/pseuds/itssoverynicetomeetyou
Summary: Dr River Song, Archaeologist. A lonely man without a family. A new woman who's just found hers. What do they have in common? And why are they meeting?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What? Finish my other fic before starting a new one? Never! (also please go read it I crave kudos it's called Desperation)

Hidden in a dark corner of a university library, Doctor River Song poured over her latest find: the diary of a guide from Old Egypt. Judging from the language style and the type of paper it was early 21st Century. She gave a grin at that, not that she had favourite time periods, but that was definitely one of them. The diary detailed a trip that paid handsomely upfront with a promise of even more reward upon return, but the guide never saw the explorers again. Admittedly, the group had insisted on a particular dig site in the middle of the desert, far from any known ruins and had told the guide to leave them when they had arrived at the supposed site. But something didn’t sound quite right to River. If the dig had promised such riches, why was there no other reference to it? She couldn’t even find evidence suggesting there should be a dig in that area. She broke into a grin; surely this deserved a little investigating? Checking that there was no-one around her, she pulled out her vortex manipulator and dialled in the coordinates.

*****

The Doctor stroked the console absent-mindedly, unable to look away from the empty space that Amy and Rory had always occupied. It had been a week since he’d lost them forever, but the wound was still raw in his heart. He cursed the Angels in as many languages as he could think of, but it didn’t bring them back.

“Don’t travel alone.” The sentiment hit him from nowhere. He couldn’t even remember who’d said it to him, or even which face he’d been wearing. Maybe the TARDIS had projected the thought into his mind, he didn’t really care at that point. Maybe he should stop travelling altogether. Find himself a planet to settle on and just…he didn’t get to finish the sentence as the TARDIS gave an indignant jerk. Stumbling to find his footing, he grabbed the console.

“Alright,” he muttered. “But just one more, do you understand?”

*****

“Ryan! Where do you want to go next?” Ryan gave a start at the Doctor’s voice; he hadn’t seen her come into the console room.

“Uh, wait, isn’t it Graham’s go?” The Doctor gave a shrug.

“He isn’t here to choose, how about you choose for him?” Ryan gave a wry smile. He didn’t know what to choose, but then he remembered last Christmas. Grace had given Graham a plate with an image of Ra and he’d been overjoyed, describing all sorts of digs that he’d read about as a child.

“Can we go to an archaeology dig? In Egypt?”  The Doctor hurriedly smothered a snort. “What’s wrong with that?”

“I’ve got a time machine, Ryan. I point and laugh at archaeologists.” Ryan looked a little deflated so the Doctor gave him a friendly bump on the arm. “But if that’s where you wanna go, that’s where we’re headed.” She burst into a grin and leapt to the console.


	2. Chapter 2

The TARDIS shook violently, the Doctor constantly having to operate different parts of the console to avoid catastrophe.

“Can I help?” Yaz asked from her precarious position of holding onto a crystal pillar that was slightly too big for her. She could feel her fingers slowly slipping.

“Maybe another-” the Doctor broke off to dash around the console and give the hourglass another spin. “Time!”

“I swear it’s not usually this bad, Doc,” Graham grumbled, regretting the sandwich he’d just eaten. Ryan simply sat, wedged against a pillar, trying not to look too green.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, she isn’t normally this temperamental.” The Doctor muttered to herself, hands dancing over the controls. “What’s wrong, old girl?” She looked up at the ceiling.

There came another shake as the TARDIS landed, knocking everyone off their feet. Ryan looked at his fallen companions glumly.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Not in here!” The Doctor scrambled to her feet and pulled Ryan up. Flinging the doors open, she bundled him outside to a conveniently placed bush. Giving him an awkward pat on the back, she returned inside to look at the screen.

“So where are we then?” Graham asked, trying to take his mind off his grandson.

“Uh, not entirely sure.”

“I thought Ryan chose somewhere?” Yaz piped up.

"He did. We just…” the Doctor peered at the screen. “Might have got a bit lost.”

“Lost? How? What are all the controls for if you turn around and get us lost?” Graham’s perturbed whine brought Ryan back inside, looking a little less green than before.

“She’s a very old machine, Graham.” The Doctor winced and gave an apologetic look at the ceiling. “She’s also very trustworthy. Always takes me where I need to go.”

“Where’s that then?” Ryan asked, having missed the rest of the conversation.

“Apparently, somewhere out there.” The Doctor pulled on her coat. “Come on!” She led the team out the TARDIS.

“Is anyone else really confused?” Graham said, but no-one was paying any attention.

*****

The loneliest man in the universe jumped at the familiar vworp of the TARDIS engines. Frowning, he looked back at his own TARDIS. Well then. Good job he’d parked somewhere out of the way. He’d found a small entrance to some sort of underground tunnel and parked in there; the sun was far too hot for his liking. It made him take his tweed jacket off. He didn’t like taking his jacket off. He paced to the entrance and looked out, wondering what exactly he was about to face, but there were no signs of anyone just yet. Must have parked further off then.

An all-too-familiar buzz made the hairs on his arms stand up. He whipped around to see River, his River, leaning casually against the TARDIS.

“Hello Sweetie.”

“River-” his words caught in his throat. What could he say after he’d treated her so callously the last time they’d met? Had that even happened for her yet? The thought of pretending everything was fine made his hearts ache for the solitude of the TARDIS.

“Wasn’t expecting to see you here.” River removed the vortex manipulator from her wrist.

“River, I told you, you can’t keep on using that!” Old habits died hard. “You can’t just go zipping about in history, think of the damage you could do.”

“Or the damage I’ve done,” River’s all-too-knowing smirk fell across her face as she drew him into her arms.

“River,” he warned.

“Relax, only when it was completely necessary, I assure you.” Somehow the statement didn’t have the desired effect. River drew back, puzzled.

“What’s going on, Sweetie?” He looked at the ground, refusing to meet her gaze. He couldn’t tell her. Somehow, he just knew she wasn’t in the same place in her timeline as he was. Her parents were still alive.

Excited voices approached the tunnel entrance, making them both jump.

“How should I know where we are? We’re lost, remember?”

“Yeah but can’t you do a trick or something? Like you did in Norway?”

“Graham, look around you. There’s nothing but sand. I can’t eat sand!”

“You ate dirt.”

“That’s a completely different chemical structure. Dirt holds information like that, sand just…whoosh. It all just blows away and makes my mouth all gritty.”

“You’ve already eaten some, haven’t you?”

“All I could tell was this is we’re somewhere in twenty-first century-” the owner of the voice stopped abruptly as she entered the tunnel.

“Darling!” River squeaked excitedly, running over to the blonde. “I had no idea you were coming here!” She grabbed the lapels of the coat and pulled her into a sound kiss.

She didn’t respond. She just stood there, eyes wide open, a shocked expression on her face.

“River…” she trailed off. In the distance, Eleven shifted uncomfortably, aware that the other intruders hadn’t noticed him yet. They were all staring at River in bewilderment.

“Yes, darling?” River’s voice took on a wicked tone. The Doctor’s eyes flicked ever so briefly to the man hiding in the shadows. She knew who it was, she could feel it. The…wrongness that pervaded the whole place, ever since she’d left the TARDIS with her team.

“What’s my name?” She whispered.

“I haven’t kissed you that hard yet.” How could River’s voice become more wicked? The Doctor’s silence made her pause and look back at her. “I’m your wife.” The Doctor blinked. “I have many names for you,” River paused and glanced at the Doctor’s friends. “But none of the others are suitable for company, don’t you think?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meetings

Yaz stepped away from the group and explored further into the tunnel, pulling out her phone to use as a torch.

“Hold on, is that-” A tall man with floppy hair and a ridiculous bow-tie threw his arm out to bar her entry to his TARDIS. It was bad enough them meeting like this. Gods know what would happen if she went inside.

“Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Who are you?” Goodness, she was a clever one. Nice to know he kept his standards.

“Never you mind, now go back to the others.” Yaz opened her mouth once more, then thought better of it and turned to leave him alone.

Just then, River gave another excited squeal.

“Oh, I don’t think you’ve met my husband.” She paused and looked back at her confused wife. “I have told you about my husband, right?” The Doctor gave a non-committal shrug. River took her hand and led her to her reluctant counterpart.

“Darling, I’d like you to meet the Doctor. He’s a lot like you, except, well, best leave it there.” She gave her wife a flirty wink. “And Doctor, this is Angel, my second wife.”

All four of the Doctor’s hearts skipped a beat. They looked at River, trying to hide the hope in their eyes, trying to see if she was confused or lying, or joking. River’s face betrayed nothing but the honest truth. She practically glowed with it, or maybe that was ‘Angel’s’ imagination.

“Play nicely, dears.” River’s voice broke something inside her and Thirteen surged forward, circling her arms around Rivers waist and pulling her in for a deep kiss.

I love you, I’ve missed you, I never thought I’d see you again. I’m so happy you’re here.

River gently broke away, looking up at her with dark eyes.

“Careful darling, you might make someone jealous.” River looked pointedly at Eleven.

“Oh, I don’t think he’ll mind.” Thirteen couldn’t find it in her hearts to care. River was there, in front of her. She knew her, in some form at least. Somewhere in her own future, Thirteen had found a way to escape the laws of history. Unwilling, and frankly unable, to hide the puppy-dog smile that blossomed across her face, she put an arm around River’s waist and guided her to the other side of the tunnel. She had some serious catching-up to do; almost the whole of her last lifetime had been without River.

From behind her there was a loud cough.

“Um, Angel?” Ryan had lost the virtual coin toss and was slowly turning pink at having to use the name. Beside him, Yaz and Graham tried hard to stifle their laughter. Thirteen turned to her friends in confusion, then remembered River’s odd choice of name. Giving her wife a reassuring squeeze, she left her side and walked over to her fam.

Judging by their faces, she had some serious explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you guess where Angel comes from?
> 
> This is shorter than I originally intended but I haven't updated for a couple of days and just wanted to get something up.


	4. Chapter 4

Thirteen walked over to her fam and pulled them towards the entrance to the tunnels. This was a conversation it was best no-one overheard. Yaz and Graham had just about got their giggles under control, but she could tell by Yaz’s raised eyebrow that she had to explain that first.

But how? She’d never used that name.

Unless...

It all clicked into place. River had known every name she’d ever used; even a derivation of John Smith would have been a giveaway. So she must’ve been sneaky, hiding her identity within itself. At the Academy she’d gone as Theta Sigma. Theta was the name given to an angle in a triangle; swapping the last two letters around can’t have been too difficult. Still, though. Angel? She tried not to shudder.

“Right team, big favour to ask of you.”

“Our wings are all a-flutter,” maybe Graham hadn’t quite got over it yet, then.

“You can’t call me…what you normally call me.” She replied, sending Graham a warning stare. “Ryan was right with the name, go with that.”

“Really? You want us to call you Angel?” Yaz asked incredulously. Thirteen gave a sigh.

“Whilst River is around, yes.”

“Who is this River, anyway?” Ryan piped up, determined to get his embarrassment under control. Thirteen gave a sigh.

“She’s my wife. And she isn’t. Well, apparently she is but-” she trailed off, unsure how to explain it. “Last I knew, I was her husband.” She paused, trying to work out how to explain something that she didn’t yet understand herself.

“Hold on,” Yaz said. “She called that man over there her husband. And Doctor. And, I think he has a TARDIS.” She frowned. “But he can’t be you, you said you were Scottish.” The Doctor relaxed a little. This was a conversation she knew how to take.

“Before I was Scottish, I was him.” She gestured over to the bow-tied idiot currently engaged in studiously ignoring River, no matter how much bedroom-eye she gave him.

“Wait, you were three people?” Ryan asked, frowning in confusion.

“Well if you’re putting it like that I’ve been fourteen. But I’m still me, I just look a bit different on the outside, that’s all.”

“But he was rude. He all but pushed me away from the TARDIS. That can’t be you, you’re not like that.” Yaz protested. Thirteen frowned, trying to work out how to marry different attitudes and being the same person. Almost without noticing, she glanced over her shoulder back to Eleven.

And then she noticed. The way his eyes dragged along the floor, the droop of his shoulders, the distinct lack of joy and fez. Amy and Rory, she thought, because somehow she knew. She didn’t remember this day, but she did remember that haggard face staring bleakly back in the mirror. She remembered breaking the mirror so she- he wouldn’t have to face the image any more. She remembered-

Yaz placed a hand on Thirteen’s arm, pulling her from her thoughts.

“He’s been through a lot.” Her voice was low, and she fought for it not to crack.

From further in the tunnel, River gave a shout.

“Sweetie! Darling! I came for an adventure, are you going to join me?” Team TARDIS looked round to see River wielding a disturbingly large torch, trying to see if there was anything written on the walls. Thirteen cleared her throat and led her fam towards the sound. Eleven did the same.

If there was one thing the Doctor could never refuse, it was River Song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another short one i'm afraid; short chapters are only temporary though, I will go back to writing longer ones, I promise!
> 
> Still can't stop laughing at the thought of Ryan calling the Doctor 'Angel'.
> 
> Also, for anyone that's seen the finale...I HAVE ALL THE FEELS


	5. Chapter 5

River led them further into the tunnel until all traces of natural light was gone; the only light now coming form her torch. Ryan tripped on something underfoot and caught his balance on Yaz who yelped at the sudden hands on her shoulders. River turned round, blinding them with her torch.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

“Any chance you’ve got a spare one of those?” Ryan asked. “It’s hard to see from back here.” River frowned then dug in her bag and tossed him a small torch. Ryan fumbled the catch but managed to keep hold of it and turned it on, only to give a loud yelp.

“That had better not be what I think it is.” River came to join him and crouched down to examine the object.

“It looks like a shed spider skin, but much bigger than normal.”

“Ah come on, we’ve already done this. I really don’t want to do it again.” Graham complained. At the same time, River was running some kind of scanner over the skin.

“It’s definitely not from around here, not even from this solar system,” she paused as Graham’s words sank in. “What do you mean already?”

Graham opened his mouth to tell the story but caught sight of Thirteen’s warning glare.

“It, uh, it wasn’t aliens.” He stumbled out the words. The Doc shrouded her identity in mystery, but this was even more lies than usual, and he was having to tell them. To someone that obviously cared a great deal about her. He looked away from River’s questioning gaze, unable to hide the guilt that ran around his stomach.

Thirteen felt more than heard Eleven clear his throat. Glancing at the others, she reckoned they’d be busy for a little while and led him a little way further on to be out of earshot.

“Have you any idea how dangerous this could be?” Eleven hissed. “You’re crossing our timeline in the biggest way possible.”

“Hey don’t get mad at me, I haven’t done it yet.” Thirteen replied. She looked back at River, her haze of curls falling about her head as she reached into her bag fro another piece of equipment. “Although maybe I figured time could be rewritten,” she murmured.

“Not these times.” Eleven echoed River’s words sadly. Thirteen looked back at him.

“I think I know, but just to be sure I avoid spoilers,” Eleven gave a small chuckle. “I need to know where you are.” He sagged against the wall.

“Amy and Rory-” his voice cracked and he closed his eyes.

“How long?”

“A week.” He kept his eyes on the floor. “River hasn’t been there yet she doesn’t know.” He dragged his gaze up to meet Thirteen’s. “I can’t even apologise.” Her face twisted at the distant memory.

“I haven’t forgotten them.” That was all she could say, possibly more than she should. He gave her a weak smile and stood up, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulders. It was enough, she thought.

“Anyway, what am I going to call you? I’m not calling you Angel. Bit too much of an ego boost.” Thirteen chuckled and shrugged as he surveyed her, his head tilted to one side. Suddenly, he turned and walked back to the others, calling over his shoulder as he went.

“Come along, Blonde.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry I've been late posting this, life got in the way a little. Also, I've re-written this so many times, I don't think I've got eleven's voice quite right. Any time please let me know in the comments!  
> Thank you to all of you who read this and have put up with the late posting, I'm going to try and be a little more regular, just probably won't be every day like my last fic.


	6. Chapter 6

“I see you’ve got to know each other,” River commented as the two Doctors re-joined the group around the spider skin. “Any ideas running round those beautiful heads of yours?” She gave a Cheshire-cat grin. Thirteen felt the tips of her ears burning; that was a new feeling. And she didn’t entirely hate it, either.

“River says this isn’t from Earth.” Yaz interjected, not quite able to meet Thirteen’s eyes. She was married. Twice. To the same person. Luckily, her police training had given her a tight grasp on her emotions. She felt a light touch against her arm; Ryan, gently letting her know that he understood what she was feeling. When they got out of here, she was definitely sharing a cuppa with him.

“Not from Earth? So where’s it from?” Eleven squatted and reached out to touch the skin only for his hand to be slapped away by River.

“Honestly, it’s like you’ve never even heard of poison.” She admonished.

“It’s not like I put it in lipstick.” Eleven retorted, naturally falling back into their banter. Gods, he’d missed this. River’s face softened into a smile as she pulled out her lipstick and ran the lid down his cheek.

“Only for emergencies, Sweetie.”

“So…Spiders from Mars?” Graham cleared his throat and spoke up. River frowned.

“No, I said it wasn’t from this system. Surely you know the planets of your own system?” Thirteen chuckled quietly.

“Nice reference Graham, afraid it’s got a little lost over time.”

“What? No Ziggy Stardust in the future? Bowie should be remembered forever!”

“Oh _Bowie_. Didn’t know you were talking about Classical music.” River started to pack away the various pieces of equipment that she’d strewn around on the ground. “Wait, how do you know I’m from the future?”

“Well, all this stuff you’ve got…it’s hardly from the local hardware is it?” River paused, wondering if she should tell him about her husband’s Box from before Earth’s sun had started to shine. A conversation for later. Along with asking her wife how she’d met these strange locals, and how they’d got to the middle of the desert in early 21st-Century Egypt. “Well,” she said, “we won’t find anything else by standing around here chatting.” She stood up and led the way further down the tunnel, letting her hand loosely trace her wife’s waist as she walked past.

Thirteen snapped into motion, quickly turning and keeping in step with River, leading the party. Graham and Ryan went next, Ryan clutching the torch and keeping it carefully trained on the ground so he didn’t trip over anything else. Eleven and Yaz came last, Eleven pulling out his screwdriver and pointing it at Ryan’s torch so that it was bright enough for the four of them.

The split in the tunnel came so suddenly that the leaders almost crashed straight into the wall, the others barely stopping themselves in time to stop a pile-up.

“Which way now?” Ryan asked. River paused, then opened her bag once more, pulling out a small box and opening it to reveal small circular stickers.

“Com-dots. I only have four, but as long as you stick together it should be fine.” Ryan reached to pick one up, remembering them from previous adventures, but Thirteen gave him a panicked look and he shoved his hand back in his pocket. “So, who’s going with who?”

Thirteen couldn’t find it in her hearts to leave River so soon after finding her again. She didn’t say anything, but subconsciously shifted closer to her.

“We’re with her.” Graham nodded at Thirteen, reluctant to trust the bow-tied man. The Doctor had said it was still her, but from Yaz’s account, he wasn’t sure how true that statement was. River looked at her husband. She wasn’t blind; she knew something had happened. She also knew that it was a spoiler and he couldn’t talk about it with her.

“You shouldn’t go alone.” She said, her voice softer than it had been all day.

“I’ll go with him.” Thirteen whipped her head to see Yaz take a step towards her former self. Eleven’s eyes widened with shock, he’d been so rude to her earlier. But of course. Of course he’d end up travelling with someone kind. Slowly, he stretched his mouth in an approximation of a smile, the best he could manage, anyway. River watched the interplay carefully before nodding and holding the box out to the two.

“Take a com-dot each, stay in contact.” She caught her husband’s hand as he took one, hoping that somehow she could tell him that whatever had happened it wasn’t his fault. All too soon, he pulled away, looking back down at the ground. River stepped back, fixing a dot on her neck and offering the last to Thirteen. Thirteen didn’t put it on her neck just yet, though.

“Yaz, you don’t have to.” She went over to Yaz, lowering her voice so that River wouldn’t hear.

“I’ll be fine, D-” Yaz cut herself off. Thirteen’s gaze flicked to her past self who was watching the interaction intently.

“Take care of her.” Eleven nodded, then turned and led Yaz down one tunnel. Thirteen put on her com-dot and walked back to River.

“Onwards?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not really sure what to say after this one...sorry not a lot happens in it. I just needed to do a little bit of prep for later on (spoilers!). As always, comments and kudos are much appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

Yaz hurried after her companion; his strides were long and she had to jog to keep up.

“Hold up! There’s no rush, is there?” She called. Dutifully, the Doctor stopped and turned to look at her.

“Who are you?” He asked.

“Yasmin Khan. Yaz to my friends.”

“Am I your friend? Future me, I mean. Is she your friend?” Yaz nodded. “Do you trust her?”

“With my life.” Eleven closed his eyes.

“Maybe you shouldn’t. Have I- has she told you how dangerous travelling can be?”

“The first time I left Earth, she’d zapped us into space. Nothing around us, no suits, no TAR-” The Doctor cut her off with a raised hand.

“Spoilers. I always forget meeting myself but sometimes things bleed through. I might change my own timeline by accident.”

“Like with Agatha Christie?” The Doctor frowned and looked at her.

“How do you know about her?”

“The Doctor told us. She tells loads of stories. I didn’t think they were all true, but meeting you…I can believe you were thrown up by a space whale.” Eleven winced at the memory. Amy’s bright laugh cut through his head, making his hearts ache. Yaz stepped forward and gently put a hand on his arm.

“You may have changed your face, but you’re still terrible at hiding when you’re sad.” Eleven covered her hand with his.

“Tell me about her.” Yaz said. “The Doctor, my Doctor, she says she carries people with her, but she never talks about them. Sometimes when she thinks people aren’t looking, her face drops and she’s… so sad. I know she still misses everyone.”

Eleven sighed. He shouldn’t tell her. If his future self didn’t want to talk, what right did he have to go against that? Then again, it wasn’t like there was anyone else he could talk to. He went to the side of the tunnel and sat down, leaning against the wall as Yaz sat opposite him.

“She was Amy Pond, he was Rory Williams. Together, they were the best people I’d ever met.”

*****

“So what do you think of this River then?” Graham whispered to Ryan as they followed River and the Doctor down the other tunnel.

“Dunno really. I didn’t really think she was the marrying type.” Ryan replied.

“Me neither, especially not to someone like that. They’re complete opposites. Even that other bloke seemed more suited to her.”

“Really? How? All he’s done is mope about. He seems kinda boring.” Ryan looked over at Graham, wondering if his age had given him some extra sense about people.

“Well you heard the Doc-” Ryan hit him in the shoulder. “You heard her. She said he’d been through a lot. Seemed pretty cut up about it, too.” Ryan paused, thinking back over the conversation they’d had earlier. Graham was right, the Doctor had definitely been upset.

“Come on slow coaches!” Up ahead, the Doctor spun around in her stride to call back to her friends.

“Coming!” Graham called, although he made no attempt at speeding up.

“So, when did you start travelling with companions?” River asked before looking over at her wife seriously. “Don’t tell me you’ve started wearing a fez. You’ll turn into my husband and, much as I love him, I think the universe can only deal with one of him.” The Doctor laughed.

“No fezzes. Yet.” River widened her eyes in exasperation but she just bumped their shoulders together and carried on down the tunnel. River jogged to catch up.

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Haven’t I?”

“No.” River snaked an arm around the Doctor’s waist, forcing them both to slow down a little.

“They’re my friends.” The Doctor hoped that would be enough, but judging by River’s expectant silence it clearly wasn’t. She took a deep breath. Time to bite the bullet. “I don’t think we’re at the same point in our timelines.” River froze. After a few moments, she spoke, but her voice was strangled.

“Please tell me you know who I am.” The Doctor’s hearts broke for her and she pulled her into a gentle kiss. Screw timelines. Her wife was sad and she needed to make it better.

“The first time I saw you, it was a party on Raxacon Nine. You were wearing a blue dress and heels.” River’s voice quavered as she looked into her wife’s eyes and silently begged her to continue the story. The Doctor scrambled to try and make River believe she’d been there.

“I was falling over in them all the time.” She hoped it was true. She’d borrowed a pair off Yaz once and spent a week hobbling around the TARDIS with a sprained ankle. River gave a tearful laugh.

“And you fell into my arms.”

“You’re beautiful.” The Doctor breathed, completely losing track of tense. Her brain had chosen that moment to short circuit again. River, her wonderful, outrageous, hell in high heels River, was here. In front of her. In her arms. Kissing her.

Graham coughed and the two pulled apart like guilty teenagers.

“Right, um,” the Doctor floundered. River’s hand found her own and her voice calmed. “Let’s keep going, then.” The four walked on, their conversations falling silent.

The Doctor heard it first. A slow, dragging shuffle up ahead. She cocked her head to one side and held a hand up to stop the others.

“Hear that?” She whispered. The shuffling got louder, approaching them. River shone her torch but the tunnel curved ahead and whatever was creating the noise was beyond what they could see.

“Finally, some adventure!” River gave a wolfish grin and started forward. The Doctor’s plea for her to be careful fell on deaf ears. Sighing, she motioned for her friends to follow her and they tiptoed round the bend.

“Agh!” Ryan yelled.

“Oh come on!” Graham cried.

“Everyone back!” The Doctor shouted, pulling River with her as they ran back the way they had come.

Away from the mummy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :P because of course. We’re in an Egyptian tomb. What else would our dearest Doctor come up against? Finally managed to make a slightly longer chapter this time (hooray!). My muse has returned and I’m itching to write more on this. I’ve returned to calling each of the Doctors ‘Doctor’ as they’re not in the same place as each other, hopefully that still makes sense? I found referring to them by their numbers a little jarring as it’s not what the characters think of them as (and the slight niggle that the war doctor exists which makes thirteen number fourteen, but hey that’s just me being a pedant).


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, another chapter in the same day. Am I procrastinating from the work I have to do in real life? Yes. Is it just like how I wrote Desperation? Yes. Do I care? No.  
> Yippee!

Yaz stayed still when the Doctor had finished his story, her mind whirling. She’d been warned when she asked to stay on the TARDIS, but she’d never imagined anything like that. The part of her mind that always snuck doubts wondered if the Doctor had deliberately not told them what could happen, but she dismissed the thought. They’d seen death before they’d asked to stay. They knew what they were signing up for.

“Strange seeing myself face to face.” The Doctor’s remark cut through the silence, jolting Yaz from her thoughts. “Never thought I’d be a woman. Do you think it suits me?” Yaz laughed at that. Different face, same Doctor.

“You put your own twist on it. You’re just… you. Until we end up in history, of course.” The Doctor stopped her once more.

“Spoilers.” He smiled. “That’s something I get from River, you know. Never used the word before and then she waltzed into my life and now I’m using it all over the place.”

“Is it weird, seeing yourself with her?” Yaz was curious.

“It’s wrong.” Yaz looked surprised at his answer and he tried to explain. “River and I, we travel in opposite directions in our timelines. First time I met her was the last time she saw me. Actually, she died.” He paused, fighting the memory in his head. “I’m not supposed to know, but this is the last face of mine she’ll see. I know our time together will be over by the next time I change.”

“How do you know that?”

“She has a wallet with pictures of all my faces in it. Sort of a ‘Spotter’s Guide’. I’m the last one in it.” He stopped, sadly tracing patterns in the dust beneath them. “So your Doctor, she’s broken all the rules. Crossing your own timeline is very dangerous, for me it could be catastrophic.”

“Is she worth it?” Yaz asked. The Doctor paused, a longing smile playing about his features.

“Gods yes.”

*****

“Don’t tell me that’s a mummy.” Graham panted as they rested against the wall where the tunnel had split in two. There was a pause. “So what is it?”

“You told me not to tell you.” The Doctor replied, looking guilty.

“What’s a mummy doing in a desert?” Ryan asked. River frowned.

“What else do you expect to find in an Egyptian tomb?”

“A what now?” Graham said, looking worried. “When did we get into a tomb?”

“That’s what the tunnel was when you came in. It’s the entrance to an unknown burial site. Well, virtually unknown, at least.” River turned to the Doctor. “Did you not tell them where you were taking them?” The Doctor chewed her lip.

“Might’ve lost my bearings a bit.” River rolled her eyes.

“Aren’t you always?” She smiled fondly.

“So, where are we?” Ryan asked.

“Egypt, 2018. About thirty miles south of the pyramids of Giza. I found the diary of a local guide who took a dig here but they never returned. We’re about a week after they were last seen. Something must’ve happened to make them to go quiet; they thought this was the greatest find since Tutankhamun.”

“Dig?” Graham’s eyes lit up at the word.

“Did my Darling not tell you? I guess we have been a little busy,” she gave the Doctor a filthy wink before turning to Graham and offering her hand. “Doctor River Song, Archaeologist.” Ryan opened his mouth incredulously, but the Doctor shook her panicked head at him. She was going to pay for that later, she could tell.

“Although,” the Doctor started, trying to distract Ryan more than anything else. “Did anyone else see any wrappings? Bandages?” The others shook their heads.

“Must’ve been hidden under all that sand.” Graham said.

“It’s not like we stuck around to look.” Ryan spoke at the same time.

“But why was the sand sticking to it? And how did it get there? Sarcophagi are meant to be sealed and if this place is as remote as River says, I doubt grave robbers got in.” Ryan groaned and rested his head back against the wall.

“You want us to go back and look.” The Doctor nodded guiltily.

“Well I for one think it’s a marvellous idea.” River piped up, pressing a kiss to her wife’s cheek. Touching the com-dot on her neck, she spoke to her husband as she led the others back down the tunnel.

*****

“Sweetie?” River’s voice cut through their conversation, making Yaz jump.

“Um, yes?” The Doctor felt nervous. River had _that_ tone of voice. The one she only ever got when there was something really, really dangerous about.

“We may have found a mummy.” Amy. The Doctor’s hearts panged for a second.

“Wait, seriously? A full-on, bandages trailing, wanna eat brains mummy?” Yaz said excitedly. Of course, Egyptian tomb. Not Manhattan. Stupid Doctor.

“We didn’t get much of a look but that’s what it looked like.” The Doctor, Yaz’s Doctor chimed in.

“Hey! Get off the channel. I’m talking to my husband.” River said with fake annoyance.

“Scared I’ll make him jealous?” Yaz blushed at the Doctor’s tone. Judging by the oddly strangled laugh from River, she hadn’t been expecting it either. There was a quiet click, and the two were left on their own once more.

“Well.” The Doctor, the younger one, said after a beat. “Mummies and spiders. This should prove interesting. Come along.” He stopped speaking abruptly, as if he’d stopped himself from finishing. Yaz gave him a gentle smile and followed.

“Although strictly speaking of course the whole ‘eating brains’ thing isn’t mummies, it’s supposed to be zombies. But that’s silly because zombies are perfectly pleasant and actually have quite good table manners.” Yaz smiled to herself; yep, this was still the Doctor.

They continued down the tunnel, alternating between companionable silence and wild ramblings from the Doctor. The tunnel seemed to stretch forever and Yaz was beginning to wonder how long it would take for them to get back to the others.

The tunnel turned sharply and the two stumbled to a halt.

The sand and dust of the tunnel had gone, replaced by bright metal. Alright, it was a little dull from age but parts of it still glinted in the torchlight. The Doctor cleared his throat and carefully moved forwards, reaching out to examine the wall. Yaz wandered past him, looking for anything other than bare metal walls. Surely there was a reason for the metal. But how had Ancient Egyptians got it down here? And why?

The Doctor buzzed the metal with his screwdriver and flicked his wrist to look at the readout.

“Strange,” he muttered to himself, before pouncing on the section behind him and doing another reading.

Yaz walked round a corner and let out a gasp. She’d entered a small circular room with a domed ceiling and brightly coloured star maps on the walls. But that wasn’t what had made her gasp; in the centre of the room was a tall pedestal with eight smaller pedestals circled around it, each of them holding various buttons and dials.

The noise attracted the Doctor and he careened into the room.

“Woah.” He said, before looking at his screwdriver again. “Well, that explains these readings.” He touched his com-dot. “River? Blonde? I’ve found something.” He didn’t wait for their reply. “You said that spider skin we found was from an alien… this is their ship. They must have crash-landed here millennia ago and got buried under the sand. I’ve taken a look and almost all the power’s gone, there’s just one stasis chamber being run and even that is showing signs of failing.”

“How do you know it’s the spider’s ship and not the mummy’s?” Ryan called over the channel. In response, Yaz took her phone out, snapped a photo of the room and sent it to him with a quick message.

> Could YOU operate eight different things at once?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I'd forgotten the spiders? Never! Anything that gives me the creeps is ripe for Doctor Who-ing!
> 
> Anyway the conversation between Eleven and Yaz in this one was a quick fix as I realised canon makes this whole 'eleven is mad at thirteen for breaking their timeline' impossible as he doesn't know when they'll go to Darillium. I took the wallet thing from 'The Husbands of River Song' and shifted it slightly earlier in River's timeline so that Eleven could see it and mistakenly think he was the last face to ever see her. As for Eleven knowing that he was on his last face of his set of regenerations...can we just pretend that isn't a thing? I couldn't think of a way to fix that so I'm just quietly sweeping it under the carpet of sand and hoping no-one will notice. No-one noticed? Amazing!
> 
> The very last line is a format thing I've occasionally seen around where > is a text on a phone. So the last line is what Yaz sends to Ryan.
> 
> I know it's the holidays and I know I have tons of work to do but this is so much more fun to write now especially now that I'm reaching my favourite bit of the story (nope, not telling!) and I just want to get there haha.
> 
> Also, I'm on my second page of comments! Wow! Thank you for all your comments and support, it really brightens my day when I see them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY WHO YEAR!!! WOOP WOOP!!!  
> So I haven't been posting on this because I promised I wouldn't do any writing until I'd finished my work...then had plot bunnies in the middle the night that demanded to be paid attention to...so that explains the two other fics I put up before returning to this one. I promise I never forgot about it!

Ryan’s phone pinged loudly and Graham peeked over his shoulder to look.

“That definitely looks like spider stuff to me.” Graham said with a grimace. “Thought we’d got rid of them back in Sheffield.”

“Yeah, but those weren’t aliens.” Ryan replied. River stopped and turned to look at the two, her eyebrow raised.

“So what were they? How did you stop them?” The Doctor took her arm and guided her further down the tunnel.

“I’ll explain later.” River looked down at her with hurt eyes. “I promise.” It was strange looking up at her wife. The Doctor felt sure it made it even harder to say no to her. The four continued down the tunnel, walking much slower than they had the first time, keeping their ears open for any unusual sounds.

“Hey-” Graham cut himself off when the Doctor turned round sharply. “If we’re in a spider space-ship, where are all the cobwebs?” The Doctor frowned and scanned the corners where the walls met the ceiling of the tunnel. Graham was right; there weren’t any cobwebs.

“Five points to Graham.” She looked back to River who was raising an eyebrow at her. “Another question to answer.”

*****

“Do you feel that?” Yaz asked, crouching down to the floor. The Doctor frowned and placed his hand flat against the wall.

“Yes, it’s like the ship is vibrating.” At that, Yaz looked worried.

“Do you think it’s trying to take off?” Thankfully, the Doctor shook his head.

“The ship doesn’t have nearly enough power to do that. Also, there isn’t anyone at the controls.” He nodded his head at the pedestals. Yaz paused, wondering if he would continue, but he fell silent, deep in thought.

“So what is it?”

*****

Swish thud. Swish thud. Swish thud.

The four stopped still at River’s raised hand. Sure enough, the mummy dragged itself into view. Ryan gave a start, but Graham held him in place. Slowly, River pulled out a machine from her bag and pointed it at the mummy.

Swish thud. Swish thud.

The mummy didn’t stop moving, bearing down on River in its slow walk. The Doctor’s hearts were in her mouth and she tugged on River’s sleeve, only to be ignored. River’s full attention was on the machine in her hands. The Doctor’s eyes flew back to the mummy, desperately trying to find some weakness.

“River,” she hissed, but it was too late. The mummy was within touching distance, and her beloved wife wasn’t paying the slightest attention.

Swish thud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know it's short but I only just (like an hour ago just) finished my work and I wanted to put this up
> 
> Also, cliffhangers are my jam


	10. Chapter 10

The Doctor squeezed close to River, pulling her back against the wall; it was all she could do. Fear gripped her throat and she couldn’t call out to Graham and Ryan. What could she say anyway? A warning was no use, they were only a few feet behind her, they could see the mummy as well as she could. An apology? A farewell?

Instead, she closed her eyes and pressed herself against her wife, inhaling her hair, her smell, her comfort. If this was how she died then at least it was with River. Finally, she was with River.

*****

“Could it be something to do with that stasis chamber you mentioned earlier?” Yaz asked. The Doctor frowned in response.

“Possibly. But the ship is running out of power; trying to do anything would almost certainly drain it all.” He turned to the pedestals and jumped up, managing to catch hold of the top but ended up dangling there, his feet kicking about uselessly in the air.

“Do you want a hand?” Yaz tried to hide her laughter.

“No I’m fine.” A few more kicks. “It’s all about getting the right-” another kick and the Doctor’s hold slipped, making him slide down a few inches. He hung there for a moment, catching his breath before sheepishly calling out to her. “Alright, I might need a bit of help.” Yaz smiled and shook her head as she went over to him and grabbed his legs, guiding them to her shoulder. A mad scramble and a mild kick in the face later, the Doctor span around on the top, leaning over with his puppy-dog enthusiasm.

“Thanks!” That was all Yaz got in acknowledgement before he span away from the edge again, turning his screwdriver to whatever was on top of the pedestal.

Nursing her cheek, Yaz walked around to try and see what the Doctor was doing, but the angles were all wrong.

“Do you need a hand?” She got no reply.

“Aha!” The Doctor exclaimed, a few moments later. “You’re very clever, I can see why I chose you.” Yaz raised an eyebrow. The Doctor started spouting about the pedestal as his head appeared over the side of the pedestal, along with a hand dangling a presumably important piece of wiring that made sense to his rambling. Yaz managed to make out the words ‘stasis chamber’ and held up her hands.

“Hang on, are you saying that I was right? The vibrating is the stasis chamber?” The Doctor stopped talking and looked at her thoughtfully.

“The floor wasn’t vibrating when we came in, it only started later. So it can’t be the background operating of the chamber. Also, spiders on Earth have very sensitive feet, I doubt they’d want anything vibrating, it’d be too uncomfortable. That’s assuming that these spiders are anything like Earth spiders-”

“Doctor!” To his credit, the Doctor looked duly sorry.

“I- I think the vibrating is the stasis chamber activating. Whatever is inside is coming out.” His sonic gave a loud beep and the Doctor hastily looked at it. “Oh no. Oh no no no that isn’t good.”

“What is it?”

“The ship’s power, activating the stasis chamber is draining it.”

“Yes?”

“We’re buried under who knows how much sand and there’s no ventilation shafts. If the power fails then whatever is keeping the air breathable down here will stop.”

“How long do we have left?” The Doctor looked lost.

“I don’t know.”

“Can you fix it?” No response. “Enough so that we can get out of here?” That sparked something.

“I can try. I won’t be able to fix it forever but I should be able to divert power so that the life support can last a little longer.” Yaz gave an encouraging smile.

“Right, you do that and I’ll go find whoever is coming out of the stasis chamber.” The Doctor hesitated and Yaz ventured an explanation, hoping it wasn’t giving too much away. “I’ve been in a medi-pod; I wouldn’t want to come out of one alone.” She didn’t give him an opportunity to stop her, heading for the exit on the other side of the room to where they’d entered.

She didn’t see him watch her go, his eyes bright with memories of the kindness Amy and Rory had always shown others. He blinked and the memories were gone. He had to focus.

*****

Swish thud.

The Doctor couldn’t help herself, she had to see what was happening. Cautiously, the cracked open an eye only to hurriedly shut it again. The mummy was right next to her.

Swish thud.

But that meant it had passed River. She could still feel River in her arms; warm, breathing, very much alive. She opened her eyes once more and looked at River. When the Doctor had first pulled her against the wall she’d dropped the machine to her side but now she was slowly raising it again.

Swish thud.

River moved to follow the mummy. The Doctor snagged her sleeve and widened her eyes in shock and warning. River simply put her head to one side and continued to follow the mummy as it made its slow way down the tunnel. Graham watched the two with blatant fear painted on his face, gripping Ryan to him, trying to protect him as the Doctor had tried to protect River. The Doctor tried to smile reassuringly at him. She still had no idea if the mummy was dangerous, but if it had passed both her and River by then surely it wouldn’t go for Graham and Ryan. Right?

Swish thud.

Her hearts were in her mouth as the mummy levelled with her two friends. All the mummy had to do was turn to the side and it would be over for them; there was no way she could get there in time to prevent whatever the mummy would do.

Swish thud. Swish thud.

She let out a breath. It had passed them. She held out her hand and the two slowly came towards her, glancing back at their would-be assailant. Without saying a word, River led them further up the tunnel. She looked at the Doctor, her expression grave.

“It’s still alive.”

“Isn’t that obvious? It’s moving about isn’t it?” Graham chimed in, his voice coming as a harsh whisper.

“Nah, mummies are meant to be dead. Reanimated bodies or something.” Ryan replied.

“Did any of you see any bandages this time? Cos all I saw was sand. It looked like the sand was moving, like it was vibrating. Did anyone else see that?” The Doctor’s eyes were wide as she looked around the group.

“Yeah, and the sand was really thin around the fingers. It didn’t look like bones and stuff under there, it looked like a normal finger.” Ryan got a surprised look from his granddad.

“Thought you had your eyes shut the whole time? You were gripping my shirt tight enough.” Ryan rolled his eyes.

“I had to take a peek, didn’t I?”

“Wait a minute.” River cut through their conversation, crouching down to the floor. “Look, where the mummy was dragging its feet. It’s moved the dust.” The Doctor crouched down next to her, fingers brushing away the last of the sand and dust until she revealed metal.

“Well the Doc did say we were on a spaceship.” Graham broke the silence.

“His name is the Doctor,” River tersely replied.

“Uh, guys,” Ryan started. “Is it me, or was the sand not moving as much before?” He was right. the sand and dust cleared by the Doctor and River moments earlier was jumping up and down, falling down from the piles they’d created back to cover the floor as before. One bit of sand landed on Ryan’s shoe.

“Ok, it _definitely_ wasn’t doing that before!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I watched the New Year's Special and I DON'T WANT TO WAIT A WHOLE YEAR!!!!!  
> My love for all things Doctor Who has only increased and I just want to see them having adventures all the time.  
> Good job I like writing fanfic... I've a feeling I will write many more stories before series 12!


	11. Mr Sandman

From down the corridor where the mummy had come from, there came another sound, a soft clacking of something against metal. The Doctor turned towards it, automatically putting herself in front of the others.

“This is starting to feel like a trap.” Graham said quietly. The Doctor looked back at them, her face grim.

“You’re right, that noise is too close for comfort. Back the way we came.” Three pairs of feet remained determinedly still.

“But what about the mummy?” Ryan asked.

“I think we’ve established that it’s definitely not a mummy.” The Doctor replied, ushering them to move.

“It didn’t seem too interested in us last time, we’ll just have to risk it.” River said, putting her hands on Ryan and Graham’s backs and pushing them till they finally moved. She shot the Doctor a look that betrayed her fear, but the Doctor gave her an encouraging smile. At that, River sped up until they were all running.

Having rounded the corner, the Doctor stopped. The other three were ahead of her and didn’t see, keeping up the pace until she called River’s name. At that, all of them skidded to a halt. The Doctor was at River’s side in a few strides, snaking her arms around her wife’s waist and pulling her into a kiss.

“Is this really the time?” Graham grumbled, although not very loudly. Not that they would have paid any attention to him anyway.

Suddenly, River pulled away, her mouth forming a perfect ‘o’. The Doctor had a mischievous grin on her face. She waggled River’s scanner in her face.

“Just need to borrow this, love.” She turned to go back to the new noise, calling over her shoulder as she went. “Keep going, I’ll catch you up!”

“But it won’t-” River stopped her protest when her wife broke into a run. She’d find out soon enough. Sighing, she turned back to the two she’d been designated to babysit.

“Well go on. You heard her.”

*****

The sonic buzzed and sparks flew from some wires, making the Doctor yelp in pain and grab at the edge of the pedestal. He’d managed to get most of the top of the platform off to expose the wiring beneath, leaving himself only the tiniest of spaces to actually sit on. Much more jumping like that and he’d be off onto the floor. He didn’t much fancy trying to get back up there again without Yaz’s help.

He turned his attention back to the wiring. He’d done a good job of patching different circuits together to bypass other ones and conserve power, but that was only on the one pedestal. Unless the pedestals were linked in series, the changes wouldn’t make much difference. A quick scan of the room confirmed his thoughts; the pedestals were definitely linked in parallel. No help there then. He needed to send the new circuit plans to all other parts of the ship, with no idea how far that even went. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

He stopped.

His hand moved to his neck, touching the com-dot. It was an idea. Not the best one he’d ever had, but hey, it would work, and it wasn’t like he had much time before the power ran out. He tapped the dot.

“Yaz?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve found a way to slow the power drains-”

“Well done!” Yaz interrupted. Her enthusiasm was catching.

“But I need a way to send the information to the reset of the ship for it to be effective.” He paused. “I’m going to have to cannibalise my com-dot.”

“Oh.” She sounded so deflated. Frantically, the Doctor tried to find a way to cheer her up.

“Um, how are you getting on?”

“Actually I’m a bit lost. These tunnels keep twisting round on each other.” The Doctor smiled. This was something he could help with. He fiddled with his screwdriver for a moment, then put it up to his com-dot.

The feedback was loud, making Yaz jump and cover her ears.

“What was that?”

“Ah, sorry,” the Doctor crackled. “Might’ve over done the signal a bit.” Yaz slowly removed her hands and looked around her. Again. Nope, the walls still all looked the same.

Beep.

“There you go!” The Doctor called, his voice fading in and out.

“What did you do?” Yaz asked.

“Basically, I turned your com-dot into a kind of tracker. It’ll beep when you’re going in the right direction.”

“What is it tracking?”

“My sonic of course! Never without my trusty old sonic!” Yaz bit back a laugh, knowing she couldn’t give away the future. “Just follow the beeps, you’ll get back to me.” There was a crackle, then silence. Yaz sighed and span in a circle.

Beep.

“Ever onwards, I suppose.”

Beep.

*****

River had listened to the conversation, mildly amused at her husband’s inability to use the technology to set conversations on different channels. It was a good idea, to use the transmitter of the com-dot to send the new circuit plans to the rest of the ship. It was just a shame she could no longer talk to her husband.

Swiiiissshhhh thud. Swiiiissshhhh thud.

The noise made all three of them pause, listening as the noise ground to a stop. Motioning for the men to stay where they were, River crept forwards to look.

Standing in the middle of the tunnel was the not-a-mummy. What was the story Amy had told her when they were younger? Sandman. That seemed as good a name as any.

The Sandman was standing in the middle of the tunnel, back foot hovering slightly off the ground, as if it was frozen mid-step. Slowly, she approached it. When it made no reaction, she cleared her throat. Still no reaction. Well that was just rude. Most places she went to, clearing her throat caused at least one gay panic, two sudden exits and, if she was in the right bar, a cardiac arrest.

Automatically, the reached for her scanner but remembered her wife had it. Why had Angel taken off like that? Why hadn’t she let River go with her? Oh well, she’ll have to do this old school.

She circled the Sandman, examining it for signs of movement. None. Not even the odd grain of sand falling off in the breeze she made as she moved. Strange.

Footsteps clattered up behind her. Naturally, the boys hadn’t done as she said. Sighing, she turned to them.

“Have you ever heard of being quiet?” She admonished.

“We figured it was safe given how close you were getting.” Graham replied. Ryan reached out and prodded the Sandman’s shoulder. River slapped his hand away.

“Trust my wife to leave me with the children. Again.” A flash of movement behind the boys caught River’s attention. Her wife, finally, was returning from her futile trip.

The Doctor ran up, grinning wildly.

“You’ll never guess what I saw!” Not waiting for answers, she continued. “A giant space-spider! I mean, urgh, huge and kinda scary-looking, but still! A spider from space! It was in this big room and there were three other not-mummy things-”

“Sandmen.” Ryan gave River a surprised look but she shrugged it off.

“Ha, nice! Like the song,” the Doctor broke off to hum a few bars of the melody. Shaking herself, she returned to her findings. “Anyway, I scanned one of the Sandmen and found that underneath the sand is a human being in some form of stasis, but between that and the sand is this stuff that I think the spiders make, it’s this weird layer of goop – well, not goop, more like a really advanced form of spider’s web that’s a lot thicker than the individual strands that you get from Earth spiders – but anyway, it’s this amazing stuff because it warps the fabric of space-time around it to make whatever it’s coating act like it’s got loads of mass and creates a gravity well. I mean seriously – that’s amazing science right there! I’d love to have a look-”

“Darling.” River tried to stop her wife’s ramblings, her face furrowed in a frown, but the Doctor carried on regardless.

“Turns out the spiders can vibrate their legs against the floor of the ship to make the sand vibrate at the right frequency that it acts like a fluid. The web stuff then pulls the sand in like water down a plughole and then when the vibrations stop – wham! You can’t move.” Unwittingly, she’d taken a step closer to River who took the opportunity to grab her wrist. The Doctor stopped and looked at her, eyebrows raised in an innocent expression.

“How did you scan the Sandman?”

“With this, of course.” The Doctor waved River’s scanner in front of her. “I said I was going to borrow it.” River’s face fell.

“It doesn’t work for anyone except me.” The Doctor scrambled to hide the worry that ran across her face.

“I did… a thing. I made it work for me.” She smiled hopefully. No such luck.

“It’s coded to my DNA. It’s impossible for anyone else to use it.” River held out her hand and the Doctor gave her the scanner. As soon as it touched River’s hand, the screen lit up. “See? It wasn’t even on.” Her wife couldn’t hide her guilty expression this time. “How did you scan it?”

“I did a thing.” The Doctor muttered and turned to face her friends. “On the other hand,” she continued in a falsely bright tone, “I think I know what the Sandmen are.”

“What?” Ryan asked. The Doctor’s face fell slightly.

“A living stock of food for the spiders.”

The com-dots on River and the Doctor’s necks suddenly crackled into life.

“Doctor!” Yaz whispered urgently, her voice full of fear. “Doctor, please!” The channel cut off with a loud ping of feedback, making all four of them cover their ears.

When it stopped, the silence echoed round the tunnel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun duuuuuuh!
> 
> I'm back, at last! Took a while because I'm still trying to do work at the same time (no rest for the wicked). Enjoy!


	12. Bring me a Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So what was it that made Yaz cry for help?

Yaz walked down the tunnel, pausing occasionally and spinning around the check she was going the right way.

Beep.

Yep, that seemed the right turning there. Although she could have sworn she’d never seen this corridor before. Admittedly, the corridors all seemed the same but something felt different about this one. The metal reflected the light differently, less harshly than the shining metal before. She paused to take a closer inspection of one panel and saw some scratches near the floor. Scratches on the floor. She’d definitely never seen those before. Slowly, she stood back up, listening carefully for anything that could have made the scratches.

Was it her, or was the humming of the ship getting louder? She cautiously took a few more steps down the corridor, wishing there was a way she could turn down the volume of her com-dot.

Suddenly, her blood ran cold. There was definitely something clicking down the corridor. And it was headed straight for her.

*****

The Doctor jumped as the sonic sparked and his foot slipped off the pedestal. He tried to grab hold of something but only reached thin air, tumbling down to the floor instead. He lay there for a moment, winded, wondering quite how he’d ended up there.

Blinking away the weariness that had washed over him, he sprung to his feet and started circling the pedestal, looking for a way back up. He took a running jump a few times, but always ended up slipping off at the last moment. Good job Amy wasn’t here to see that, he thought, she’d never let him hear the end of it. He gave a huff and a smile before he realised – it was the first time he’d thought about his friend without the crushing guilt and sadness. Maybe his future self was right, he could move on, whilst never forgetting her.

He looked at the last set of readings on his sonic, the ones taken just before he’d fallen off. Actually, the job was pretty much done. All he had to do was turn the patched-in circuit on. He took a deep breath and looked away from the pedestal, closing his eyes as a final precaution. This was it.

The sonic buzzed.

Nothing happened.

He opened one eye to take a peek, then the other, then he shook the sonic. _Something_ should have happened. He was about to try again when the top of the pedestal erupted in a shower of sparks, making him jump back. Naturally, he missed his footing and ended up in a heap on the floor.

He was really glad Amy hadn’t seen that.

His hands felt strange somehow. As if someone was giving them a very vigorous massage. The ship around him had started to vibrate, far more than before. He wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or not.

He shrugged his shoulders, there was nothing else for him to do here. Looking around the room, he tried to remember which direction Yaz had gone in.

“Yaz?” He called, heading out the wrong way.

*****

Yaz was jogging now, trying to put some distance between her and whatever was making the clicking sound. She’d given up trying to follow the beeps as the clicking noise seemed to be between her and the Doctor. Instead, she was trying to circle around using the map she’d been building in her head. Admittedly, it wasn’t a good map, and she could have sworn she’d run past the same turning from two different directions, but it was the best she could think of.

Rounding a corner, she skidded to a halt and tried to stand as still as possible. Her breathing sounded far too loud, her heartbeat was even louder. Surely, it would see her.

As if on cue, the thing of nightmares turned around, its pincer-like jaws salivating. Eight eyes blinked and looked right at her. Eight legs slowly stalked its body towards her.

Yaz reached for her com-dot. Fear was fighting to get the better of her and there was only one voice she wanted to hear right then.

“Doctor!” She whispered, failing at hiding her fear. The creature before her seemed to sense it and it reared up, the tip of its thorax pointing at her. A sticky white substance was glistening on the end.

“Doctor, please!”

The substance splattered onto her, blacking out her vision, forcing its way into her mouth and lungs.

‘Let this be a dream’, she thought.                                

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little one today to celebrate me finally finishing my work! I now have two weeks off which I fully intend to fill with fluffy blankets, binging Doctor Who, and much writing.  
> I can pretty much guarantee the next chapter will be up tomorrow. Oh boy, it's going to be good.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I promised a chapter today and a chapter today you shall get!  
> Also, I've reached the lucky Thirteenth chapter woohoo!

The Doctor didn’t need to hear her friends’ worried shouts, she was already sprinting down the corridor towards where they’d left the others. Her hearts were in her mouth. Yes, she’d said that travelling with her wasn’t safe, but there was no way she was ready to lose anyone yet. Not with the reminder of what it did to her staring herself in the face.

Ryan and Graham were close behind, Ryan trying not to slip over as the layer of sand beneath their feet thickened. River was there too, but a little way back. She had some thinking to do and running fast was never very conducive to rational thought.

It seemed like no time at all before they ran into the man with floppy hair, practically mowing them down. Thirteen grabbed her younger self’s shoulders and shook him.

“Where is she?” Anger and hurt coursed through her veins, as if she’d already lost Yaz. No, she promised herself, not this time. Eleven looked surprised by the sudden appearance of the four, blinking rapidly at them.

“What happened?”

“She called for help on the com-dot, that’s what happened.” Ryan fought hard to not shout. “Mate, she _never_ calls for help. She can do everything.” Thirteen couldn’t help herself. She didn’t even feel her arm pulling back.

The sickening thud as her hand connected with her past face silenced the group. Eleven staggered back as his counterpart shook out her hand.

“If anything has happened to her-” she left the sentence hanging, the fires of Gallifrey burning behind her eyes. There was a beat of silence as the two stared at each other, each recognising and hating what they saw.

“Did you fix the power issue, sweetie?” River tried to break the silence. Eleven looked away from his future, barely able to look his wife in the eye as he nodded.

“Power issues?” Graham asked.

“The ship is running out of power and when it does, whatever is keeping the air breathable will stop.”

“Sand mummies, alien spiders, Yaz missing and now potentially suffocating to death?” Ryan was incredulous. “Great day out, mate.” Thirteen turned away, trying to hide the guilt written over her face.

“It sounds like we don’t have long, let’s start looking.” Graham started down the corridor, pulling Eleven with him to get a guide on where she was last seen. Ryan followed and Thirteen stepped forward only to be pulled back by River.

“Tell me.” Her eyes were big, the Doctor felt like she was drowning in them. Shaking herself, she tried to sound nonchalant.

“Tell you what?”

“How did you do the scan earlier?”

“I told you, I did a thing.” The Doctor tried to move past her but River stepped in her way.

“That friend of yours, she called for help.”

“I know, I need to find her.” The Doctor was starting to feel desperate.

“She knew my husband broke his com-dot.”

“Not broke, more like commandeered.” River put her hands either side of her wife’s head, forcing her gaze to stop darting around. The Doctor didn’t want to lie to her wife, not to her face. “Maybe she forgot. Humans do that when they get scared.” River’s face fell and she stepped back.

“Fine. Don’t tell me the truth then.” She turned and started down the corridor, trying to keep the tears from her voice.

“River.” The tone was gentle, loving, enough to make River stop and look back. The Doctor was by her side in a heartbeat, taking her hand and softly caressing her fingers. “I love you.” River let out a teary huff so the Doctor rested a hand on her cheek. “It’s true. From the moment I first met you, I knew what would happen.” She wasn’t lying now and gods, the memory dragged up all kinds of hurt. But she pushed it all back down. That wasn’t what her wife needed right now. “It’s just, the universe is complicated sometimes.” River met her gaze with sad eyes.

“You sound more and more like my husband.” The Doctor smiled and pulled her into a kiss.

“That’s the least of my worries.” She murmured against River’s lips when they finally parted. River smiled back at her.

“What’s your biggest worry? Bet I could beat it.” The cheeky I-know-everything look came into her eyes and she pulled away, starting down the corridor. “Come on, I’ve got a big alien spider to catch. Surely that’ll be some cause for concern?” She winked at her wife then took off running, her laughs echoing down the tunnel.

The Doctor stood alone for a second, watching her wife with pained eyes.

“You’re always my biggest worry.” She slowly opened her hand and looked at the small red tube she’d pinched from River’s bag whilst they’d been kissing. Her hearts sank at the knowledge of what she had to do, but she knew she had to do it. For the universe.

Sometimes, she thought, the universe should go to hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one today because I just love this mini cliff-hanger. As I said before, cliff-hangers are my jam.  
> Wait, you thought that because this is chapter 13 I'd be nice and not pile on the angst? Mwahahahaaa!!!  
> Yes, I know Yaz is still somewhere in trouble...but I had to give these two some time alone.  
> I'm trying, but I think my commitment to Thasmin is bleeding through to this fic. It's not meant to be Thasmin (alright, maybe a little but one-sided from Yaz), promise!


	14. Chapter 14

The three were about halfway to the control room when Ryan broke the silence, letting his fear rise to the top.

“Tell me she’s okay.”

“Her com-dot is tracking my sonic, all she has to do is follow the beeps.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Eleven looked at him, trying not to see a reflection of his own fears. He failed.

“I can’t promise anything.” He looked away, the guilt forming a lump in his throat. He thought he was starting to get over Amy but obviously not.

“Doctor.” Graham’s voice made him stop. “I can’t pretend to understand what’s going on with you right now but I know that one day you’ll turn into the wonderful woman we call our friend. We’d do anything for her, and she’d do the same for us.” He took a shaky breath. Yaz had started to feel like a granddaughter to him and he didn’t want to lose her. “Is part of her in there? In you? Cos right now the Doc’s what we need.” Eleven set his jaw, about to retort but something in him softened. Maybe Graham was right, maybe part of his future self stirred in him, maybe it was his moral code, maybe…maybe it was just kind.

“I will do everything to get her back, Graham. I promise.”

A pair of footsteps ran towards them, breaking the moment.

“Everybody, I need you to wipe your faces and hands.” Thirteen reached in her pocket and brought out a packet of wet-wipes. Four confused faces looked back at her.

“What, now?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, now.” Thirteen waved the packet in his face until he took one. “Who knows what we’ve all been touching, might have picked up some of the gravity goo. Can’t have that on you if we’re going towards the spiders.” Eleven frowned.

“Gravity Goo?” Thirteen smiled her winning smile.

“Named it myself. Basically, its spider’s web only thicker and makes whatever it touches pull stuff in like an artificial gravity. The sand moves when the spiders vibrate their legs against the floor and covers you, essentially turning you into a mummy.” Eleven looked over at Ryan and Graham who were busily scrubbing themselves with the wipes.

“Have you been attacked by a spider then?” He asked.

“No.” Her reply was clipped and she widened her eyes at him, but he didn’t know what she was trying to say.

“Doctor,” River said gently. Thirteen froze. Eleven’s hearts skipped a beat. Had River worked it out? Was the universe going to implode – again – because his future self was reckless?

“Sweetie, do as she says. I’m sure she has a good reason.” Eleven shook himself and took a wipe, playing along. He didn’t mention the shake of his counterpart’s hand and the tears that sprang to her eyes. She blinked them away hurriedly and turned to River.

“I don’t take my makeup off for just anyone, you know.” River smirked as she wiped her lips. Thirteen tried to smile, but it didn’t come out right.

Graham and Ryan were watching the three carefully, trying to work out what they were missing. There was definitely a hidden conversation between the Doctor and, well, himself. Suddenly, Ryan tugged at Graham’s sleeve.

“You hear that?” He asked. Graham frowned and turned his attention away from the couples.

“DOC!” He shouted as he saw a Sandman slowly dragging itself up the corridor behind them. Worse still, the sand had started to jump about again. A spider was close behind.

River frowned. Thirteen’s hearts sank; she had to act now. Turning to Eleven, she spoke quietly but quickly.

“I have a plan, but we need to use the TARDIS. Think we can get past the spider?” Eleven gave a quick nod. “Good. I’ll explain on the way.” She turned to Ryan and Graham. “Team, I need you to find Yaz, and the rest of the Sandmen, and bring them back to where we came in.” She pulled out the red tube and twisted it up, haphazardly applying the lipstick. “Remember where that is?”

“Whatever you need, Doc.” Graham replied. Ryan didn’t bother hitting him this time, he was too confused by the Doctor putting on a very wonky coat of lipstick.

River’s voice was clear, angry even.

“How do you know about the TARDIS?” The Doctor stopped applying the lipstick and slipped it back into her pocket. “Look at me!” She turned round to look at her wife, stepping forward so their foreheads were almost touching. “You never wear makeup.” River’s voice softened, scanning her partner’s face for the answers.

The answer came with a tear spilling out and slowly tracking its way down the Doctor’s face.

“Hello Sweetie.”

“Doctor?” River whispered. From down the corridor, the clacking of the spider got louder. Realisation dawned on River’s face, too late for her to push away.

“No, please. Doctor, don’t you d-” She was cut off with a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sniff


	15. Chapter 15

Ryan yelped as the spider clacked its way into view. Thirteen broke off the kiss and threw a dazed River into her husband’s arms.

“Hello Sweetie,” River said, fighting her drooping eyelids. As Eleven struggled to put her back on her feet, Thirteen pulled off her com-dot and threw it to Graham.

“RUN!”

Ryan and Graham didn’t need telling twice and legged it towards the control room. Thirteen turned back to River, who was still unsteady on her feet, and looped one of her arms over her shoulder. Eleven got the idea soon enough and did the same on his side. Together, they half-carried their wife past the sandman and towards the spider. It reared up and aimed the end of its thorax at them.

“Get down!” Thirteen shouted and threw River forward so that she slid underneath the spider. Luckily, even when dazed, she still had enough sense to scramble up and put some distance between herself and the spider. Eleven had stumbled when River’s weight had suddenly left him and Thirteen saw the spider adjusting its aim to him. Quickly, she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her, the two painfully crashing into the wall.

“Doctor!” River called. Thirteen looked at Eleven, unable to hide the pain in her eyes.

“That’s your cue. Get to the TARDIS, I’ll be right behind you.” Eleven nodded and dived forward. He’d almost made it when the heel of his right boot clipped the end of the thorax, getting a large glob of the gravity goo on it. Not noticing, he scrambled up and caught River’s arm, dragging her away towards the TARDIS.

Thirteen watched the two until they were out of sight, dodging out of the way as the spider tried to fire some goo at her. Once River was gone, she deliberately stepped into the middle of the corridor, hands raised.

“Just hang on a second there.” She really hoped her plan would work. The spider stopped its jerky movements; so far so good. “I want to help. I think your ship crashed here and you don’t have enough power to take off again. I can help, but you have to let all the people you’ve taken go.” The spider staggered to one side and fell heavily against the wall. The Doctor’s eyebrows quirked up in sympathy. “What’s wrong?” Slowly, she pulled out her sonic and held it in front of her. “Remember this? I scanned you with it earlier? It doesn’t hurt a bit, I just need to find out…” she trailed off as she turned it on, slowly approaching the creature. The spider stayed still, too still for the Doctor’s liking. She flicked her wrist back to her and read the readings with horror.

“You’re starving. You barely have enough energy to eat, let alone chase anything to catch it.” She looked up at the eight eyes. “I’m so sorry this has happened to you.” By this point she was within touching distance of the spider. “I promise I will fix this, but you have to let these people go, do you understand me?”

The spider reared up once more and fired the goo from its thorax. The Doctor barely had time to react, putting her arms in front of her face as she dodged to the side. She didn’t stop to assess how much she’d been covered in, she didn’t have time. She darted past the spider and ran down the corridor, hoping that the TARDIS would have something more substantial than wet wipes.

*****

Ryan and Graham followed the corridor blindly, until they reached the metal of the control room. Ryan skidded to a stop.

“Woah,” he said. “Check this out!”

“Ryan, son, we really don’t have time.” Graham panted as he put on the com-dot. Already he could hear the swish-thud of the sandman behind them. Ryan frowned.

“Where’s that coming from?”

“It’s the sandman from behind us.” Graham replied.

“No it’s not, listen.” Ryan paused. “It’s coming from up ahead.” Graham took a few paces forward and listened again. Ryan was right, it was coming from further within the ship. Without needing to say anything to each other, they both ran on, barely noticing the pedestal room as they passed through it. Pretty soon, they reached a turning and paused, wondering which way to go. Ryan grabbed Graham’s sleeve and told him to listen again.

From far away down the turning there was a faint beep.

“Yaz!” Ryan shouted, taking off towards the sound, Graham close behind.

They followed the new corridor for a while, barely noticing the curve that circled them round. Finally, they stumbled into a large room about the same size as the one with the pedestals in, but empty.

Save for three sandmen, still as statues.

“Well, I guess that makes our lives a little easier.” Graham remarked, wandering over to one. “Who do you think is under all this stuff?” He barely noticed the vibrations starting under his feet, but stumbled back in shock as the sandman before him moved its hands together in a pleading motion.

“If they can move…” Ryan started.

“There must be another spider nearby.”

Beep.

Their heads whipped around towards the noise that they’d almost forgotten about. Across the room was another corridor and a fourth sandman shuffled into view.

Beep.

“Yaz,” Graham croaked.

And behind her, a slow, insistent clacking steadily approached.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Three pages of comments. Seriously, thank you. It's so wonderful to get these little packets of joy throughout the day, it really makes me happy. I'm trying to keep it together but forgive me if I just SQUEEEEEEEEEEE


	16. Chapter 16

The Doctor ran as fast as he could, keeping hold of River’s arm. The vibrating of the ship seemed to be getting louder, echoing inside his head painfully. Suddenly, he stumbled and fell, unable to move his right foot.

River felt his fall and whipped round to see what had happened. Her husband was looking on in horror as sand crept its way over his boot, anchoring him to the ground. Quickly, she pulled out a knife from her bag and knelt by him.

“What are you- AAH!” The Doctor shut his eyes and looked away as she sliced the laces and pulled his foot free of the boot. He sat for a moment, blinking wildly at her. “What was that for?”

“The sand was going to stop you from moving.” The Doctor narrowed his eyes.

“How do you know that?”

“The…” She paused, frowning. “The blonde woman said so earlier. What’s her name?” The Doctor felt his hearts break for his future self. Once again, she had found and lost River in the same day. Only this time was worse; she knew exactly what she was losing.

“Come on, we need to get back to the TARDIS.” The Doctor stood and held his hand out to help River up. River took it, forgetting about the strange woman. If it was important she was sure she’d remember it later. They headed off, the Doctor lolloping up and down as he went from socked foot to shoe.

*****

Thirteen’s head was spinning and she fell against the wall several times as she stumbled forward. The vibrating of the ship…her head was pounding with it. She tried to focus on her plan but it felt like her brain was turning to mush and leaking out her ears. Raising a hand, she rubbed at her temple ease the pain.

Or at least, she tried to raise her hand. It felt heavy, so heavy that she was surprised she could still stand. She looked down at the white goo that covered her hands. Of course. If her hands were covered in the gravity goo then they would feel heavy – massive, even. She gave a weak chuckle at her joke. Time to move on, she thought. She needed to get to the TARDIS.

She tried not the think about the woman she would see there.

*****

He burst through the TARDIS doors, hopped on one foot and pulled off his other shoe. Wriggling his toes against the floor, he gave a sigh of relief.

“You’ll slip over.” River observed, but he didn’t pay any attention, leaping up the step and fiddling with the scanner. He should have done this when he landed, he chided himself. Could have saved a lot of trouble. He felt a pang of guilt as Yaz’s face crossed his mind. A pang of guilt, and the soft throbbing of a bruise forming on his cheek.

River came to stand beside him, watching as the results came up on screen.

“They’re a long way from home,” she observed. “Half a galaxy away.” The TARDIS gave a series of happy whistles as she reached out to the screen. “Hello old girl.” River smiled and gave the scanner an affectionate stroke. Lights twinkled on the console.

The Doctor turned away, suddenly feeling sad. He’d had an adventure but his TARDIS had been alone in her sadness. He’d almost forgotten how much his ship loved River. He wondered how far in his future his other self was. How many other companions had he lost? Would it ever get easier?

A loud thump came from the doors, making both of them jump. The TARDIS whirred with warning. The thump came again.

“Chin-boy!” Thirteen shouted, instantly regretting it. Spoilers.

“I think she means you,” River smirked. Eleven frowned and brought his hand to his chin.

“It’s not that big, is it?”

“Well whoever that is, she isn’t talking about me.” River replied. Eleven gave a huff and leapt down the step, skidding over to the doors in his socks. He threw them open just as Thirteen was swinging her hand for another hit and she tumbled in, knocking him to the floor as she did so. Eleven scrambled up and took a few steps back, studiously ignoring River’s small chuckle at his antics. Thirteen rolled onto her back but made no move to get up.

“Sorry… about that entrance,” she panted. “Bit of a dexterity problem.” She nodded down at her hands. “Gunged by a spider.” She gave a guilty smile before catching sight of River. Her hearts plummeted and the smile faded.

“Who are you?” River asked, the playful growl coming into her voice. The Doctor looked away to hide the tears forming.

“Got anything I can get this off with?” She asked, her voice a touch too bright. The TARDIS gave a series of beeps and lit up some lights that led deeper into the ship. She knew her thief was hurting, and there was nothing she could do. Softly, she warmed the floor underneath her thief’s prostrate form, hoping it would give her some solace. The Doctor groaned and staggered to her feet, sagging at the shoulders at the weight of her hands.

“I’ll be off, then.” She started to follow the lights, only to be pulled up short by River’s polite cough.

“Who are you?” She repeated. The Doctor was glad she wasn’t facing her as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“No-one important.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten about out intrepid friends! They'll just need to face down the spider on their own for a little while longer.  
> Ok so I know I went mildly bananas in the notes of last chapter about the comments but seriously...wow. You guys are fantastic, I love reading all your comments! It's really lovely to hear what you guys think and it spurs me on in my writing (I know we're nearing the end of this story, but I'm already planning the next one!)  
> Also to anyone new to this, thank you for reading it this far! I know it's getting to be quite long now haha


	17. Chapter 17

She couldn’t see. She couldn’t hear. She couldn’t breathe.

Yaz felt like she was in a trance. The only thing she was aware of was the fear in the pit of her stomach that forced her to move. No matter how hard it was to drag her feet forward, no matter how much her muscles and lungs ached for oxygen, she had to keep moving.

She didn’t know how she knew, but she could feel other people in front of her. They were far away, but she knew they were there. And judging by the buzzing in the back of her skull, there was a spider nearby. She had to get to them. She had to protect them.

She was a police officer. It was her job.

*****

Ryan jumped as the three sandmen moved towards each other, huddling together as some kind of protection against the spider. Graham tried to pull Ryan behind him but Ryan twisted free, running up to Yaz.

“Yaz? Can you hear me?”

Beep.

“Yaz!”

Beep.

Meanwhile, Graham reached up to the com-dot on his neck.

“Uh, Doc? We could use a little help here.”

*****

River jumped at the voice that crackled from her neck.

“Graham, isn’t it?” She replied, her voice much stronger than it had been before. The drowsiness of the lipstick seemed to be wearing off fast. “Where are you?”

“It’s hard to say, it all looks the same round here.” A faint beep echoed over his words. Eleven scrambled over to River.

“Is Yaz with you?” Eleven slid the last few inches, slamming into his wife. Judging by the smile on her face, she didn’t seem to mind.

“She’s been turned into a sandman.” Ryan called, failing in hiding his frustration.

“We’ve got three other sandmen here with us too.” Graham added. “That’s what the- that’s what we were told to find.” Eleven sprang into action, running around the console, pressing buttons and pulling levers.

“We’ll be there in a moment,” he said, pulling out his sonic.

“Uh, any time would be great.” Ryan’s voice squeaked. “We’ve got company.” Eleven doubled down his efforts and pushed the sonic into a hole that had opened up on the console. The engine wheezed into life and River rolled her eyes.

“You’ve left the brakes on again Sweetie.” She reached for the lever to turn them off but the Doctor gently pushed her hand aside.

“Short hop, don’t want to go too fast.” He explained, before slamming down another lever. They landed with a thump, River barely managing to catch herself. The Doctor utterly failed at keeping his balance and his feet, once more, slid away from him. He stayed sat on the floor, blinking in confusion and River couldn’t help the loving giggle that rose from her heart.

A quiet dripping and a very wet looking blonde approached the two, rubbing water out of her eyes.

“You could have warned me about the landing you know, I fell straight into the pool.” The TARDIS gave a series of beeps and Eleven got to his feet to look at the screen.

“Good job you did; looks like she filled it with the right chemicals to get the gravity goo off you.” Thirteen gave a fond huff and squeezed out her hair. The TARDIS gave a disgruntled vworp.

The door burst open and Ryan and Graham ran in.

“Thanks for the rescue,” Graham started. “You scared off the spider.”

“But now they can’t move.” Ryan finished, grabbing Thirteen’s hand and pulling her outside. Once outside, he stopped and frowned at her. “Why are you all wet?” She rolled her eyes.

“Long story.”

Beep. Thirteen whipped round towards the sound.

“Yaz,” her voice sounded strangled.

“If we can get them in the TARDIS she’ll be able to take care of them.” River had stepped out and was examining one of the other sandmen. “What do you think, Sweetie?” She turned to Eleven who was leaning against the doors, watching them.

“Well,” he sprang into action, circling around the sandmen to inspect them. “The sand is pretty much solid now; they won’t be able to move without a vibration at the right frequency.”

“Could the TARDIS do it?” River asked. Eleven shook his head.

“I don’t want to risk bringing the spider back here, it’ll still be close by. If the spider comes back they won’t be able to outrun it.”

“So how do we get them on board?” Eleven eyed the TARDIS behind him. “No.” River said. “Absolutely not. There’s a short hop and there’s impossible.” Eleven sprang back to the TARDIS, calling as he went.

“Nothing’s ever impossible when I’m around, River Song.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate all the comments! I hope this chapter has a few more happy moments in it. Didn't mean for it to get too angsty - might have got a little caught up in it all! I have the ending that I planned all along, but it can easily go in another direction...would people prefer an angsty ending or a happy one?
> 
>  
> 
> 4 pages of comments. I'm dying of happiness here.


	18. Chapter 18

The TARDIS engines groaned and wheezed as it faded from view.

“What?” Ryan shouted.

“That’s the opposite of what we need!” Graham yelled.

From down the corridor, the sound of clacking slowly approached.

“This plan had better be good.” Ryan said.

Through all this, River had simply rolled her eyes and moved around the group, gently pushing the sandmen so that they moved closer together. When she came to Yaz she took her arm and guided her more gently until she was in the middle of all of them. Graham opened his mouth to ask what she was doing, but the sound died on his lips. The spider was coming out of the corridor, and fast. Thirteen felt the fear radiating off her friends and automatically reached out to comfort the nearest person. Her hand brushed against the rough sand that covered Yaz’s back. Was it her, or did Yaz move closer to her?

The spider scuttled towards them, front legs already off the ground, ready to rear up. Suddenly, wind swirled sand around them, making everyone shield their eyes. Spooked, the spider scuttled back, unable to do anything as its prey was slowly hidden by a blue box fading into view.

There was an almighty splash as they were all deposited in the swimming pool. Well, almost all of them. Seven bodies writhed and pushed as they tried to get away from each other and to the surface. Graham was the first up and looked incredulously at River who was sitting on a deck chair to the side sipping a cocktail.

“How did you do that?” He asked. River gave him a wink.

“Disgracefully, dear.” A hand gripped Graham’s arm and he turned to help Ryan up, ignoring the healthy splash he got for his trouble. Wasn’t like he could get any wetter.

*****

Yaz felt herself falling, felt the jarring in her legs as she landed on something. A hand gripped the back of her jumper and she flinched at the sudden sensation. She hadn’t been able to feel anything before. For a second she forgot the burning in her lungs as she enjoyed the feeling of water pushing past her face as the hand dragged her upwards.

She felt her head break the surface and she took a ragged gasp of air. Half of her mouth filled with water and she choked, the coughs making her unable to move. Someone was dragging her through the water as she coughed, lifting her onto something hard and rolling her on her side. Slowly, the coughs subsided and she opened her eyes for the first time in what felt like forever. The lights were bright and she hurriedly squinted, but not before she saw the face she’d been longing to see. Blonde, dripping hair framing the face that watched her carefully. Arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Welcome back Yaz,” the Doctor murmured in her ear. How could three words make the hell she’d just been through fade away? Maybe it was the person that was saying them.

Footsteps ran into the room and she felt the arms stiffen around her as River spoke.

“You took your time.” She tried to ignore the lump in her throat as the Doctor dropped her arms to her side. Opening her eyes, they’d managed to adjust to the light by now, she looked around to see Ryan and Graham crouched by three people she’d never seen before. Judging by their body language, they’d been through the same thing as her. She stood up and walked over to them.

“Hi, I’m Yaz.” She said as she crouched down in front of them. Ryan gave her a bright smile and Graham briefly rested a hand on her shoulder; they’d do a proper reunion later.

“Stevie,” one of the three answered, her voice hoarse from lack of use.

“Matthew,” said one of the others. “That’s Ben,” he pointed at the third person who was quietly crying.

“I was trapped like you,” Yaz said, noticing how tears sprang to Stevie’s eyes. “But you’re safe now, it’s ok. These are my friends, Ryan, Graham and-” Graham stopped her with a look. Yaz frowned; what had she missed? She turned to look at the Doctor, her Doctor, who was sitting at the side of the pool, watching the ripples as she moved her legs around in the water. She looked up as River laughed at something Eleven said, then quickly turned her attention back to the water. She looked small and alone, nothing like the ball of energy that Yaz knew.

She gave herself a small shake and turned her attention back to the people in front of her.

“What happened?”

“We came here on a dig, it’s our PhD work and a summer placement for Ben.” Stevie said. “Matthew and I found evidence of a tomb out here that had all sorts of superstitions about it so we thought it’d be untouched. Professor Lambert came with us to supervise-” She broke off suddenly, looking around. “Where is she?”

“Who are you talking about, love?” Graham asked.

“Professor Lambert. She went to investigate this strange sound as we were setting up the grid but she never came back.” Matthew said. “Please, you’ve got to find her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the end and I don't want it to finish! I can only hope I'm better at endings this time (honestly, my ending for Desperation was awful).  
> I've made this the first part of a series as I have ideas for a few multi-chapter fics that I see in my head as a series (hence it being called 'What I'd write for series 12'). If you like this, then hopefully you'll like the others that will be coming up (the first chapter of the next one if up, it's called 'Woodchuck'). It'll be designed a little like series 11 where you can jump on pretty much anywhere you like but there will be a few story elements that will be recurring (spoilers!)  
> Back to the comments again...5 pages. SQUEEEEEEEEE


	19. Chapter 19

River smirked at her husband as he came running in.

“You took your time,” she said, running a hand up his chest, loving the pink tinge that touched his ears.

“The TARDIS made me put on some shoes. She was fed up of me sliding all over the place.” Eleven replied somewhat grumpily. River glanced down at the shoes on his feet.

Clogs. Her ageless husband who insisted on the face of a child was wearing… clogs. She decided to not say anything, hoping that if she ignored it he would just quietly forget them.

In his defence, Eleven hadn’t _meant_ to wear clogs. As soon as he’d set the TARDIS to land he ran to the swimming pool to greet his new guests but the TARDIS had had a different idea and promptly deposited him in the wardrobe. Shoes had fallen all around him until he was knee-deep in the things. He’d slipped on the nearest pair and taken off towards the swimming pool again. He hadn’t even noticed what he was wearing until River’s pointed look and silence.

His gaze slipped to his future self who was studiously ignoring them, pretending to be engrossed in the ripples her feet made in the pool. His hearts hurt for her, for him. He knew all of River’s secrets now, knew what an incredible person she was. The thought of losing her again- he swallowed thickly and looked away.

“What are you thinking about, Sweetie?” River always seemed to know when something was wrong. Eleven didn’t know if it was guilt for the way he’d treated her last time he saw her, or the vision of his future glumly sat before him, or if it was just time to tell the truth. Whichever it was, the words fell from his mouth before he had a chance to think.

“I’m so lucky to have you River.” River laughed, assuming he was about to go off on a tangent that involved her playing a pivotal role in some precarious plan. Her laughter stopped when the Doctor caught her face and softly pressed his lips to hers. “I mean it, River Song.”

“Doctor,” Graham called, waiting where he was to see who would respond. Eleven reluctantly broke away from River, turning to his future companion. He reached behind him and captured River’s hand in his. River had never seen this side of her husband before and could barely hide the schoolgirl grin that threatened to cover her face.

There was a loud splash as Thirteen kicked her feet out of the water.

“There was another sandman, the one that you ran past. We must have lost it in the corridors.” Stevie gasped.

“Professor Lambert, was she- was she made like us?” Yaz gave her a reassuring squeeze.

“We’ll get her back. We got you back, didn’t we?”

*****

It wasn’t long before they were back in the console room of the TARDIS, ready with a new plan. Graham, Ryan, Yaz and the three students were standing by the doors, each with a large bucket of water taken from the pool. The two Doctors and River were stood at the console, Thirteen trying to hide behind the central column. River frowned at her.

“Do you know how to fly the TARDIS?” Thirteen gave a guilty start.

“Something like that.” There was no way to avoid this; the plan needed the three of them to fly the TARDIS. “It’s not important.” River blinked, then looked away, letting the subject drop. Thirteen sent a silent thanks that the lipstick was still working. Even though it ripped her hearts in two.

“Everyone ready?” Eleven asked, receiving a mixture of affirming nods and worried looks in response. He grinned. This was the way to travel.

“GERONIMO!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two, possibly three chapters left now (depending on how much I want to put off actually ending this fic). I'm as bad as the Doctor - I can't stand endings!


	20. Chapter 20

The TARDIS span down the corridor, knocking into the sides, making the occupants tighten their grip. It was a tricky manoeuvre, but the sheer joy of moving through space without having to worry about bumping into time made the TARDIS vworp with joy.

The humans on the TARDIS looked at the console with worry, but River gave the central column a stroke.

“You like this, don’t you?” She whispered. The TARDIS beeped in reply. Thirteen watched the interaction, feeling the TARDIS’s loss as well as her own. It wasn’t fair. She pouted at the universe but a stern look from her former self made her school her features once more. It was a little embarrassing, being told of by Eleven, of all faces. She’d always thought of him as the most childish one.

The TARDIS lurched to one side and she fought to keep her balance as well as keep all the right buttons pressed.

“Yaz,” she called. “I could use a hand now.” Surprised, Yaz handed her bucket to Graham and stumbled over to her. “Hold these down, could you?” Yaz took over on the buttons furthest from the Doctor, ignoring the heat that flushed her cheeks as their hands touched. She looked away quickly, straight into the inquisitive stare of River. Why was the Doctor’s wife looking at her like that? She didn’t get time to think about it any more as the TARDIS landed with a heavy thump.

“Want to do it together?” River asked, an eyebrow raised at her husband, her hand on a lever. Smiling, Eleven gripped her hand and they both pulled down.

The TARDIS doors flew open and a deep humming started, echoing around the corridor outside until it got so loud Yaz had to cover her ears.

“It’s a lot louder than before!” Ryan shouted.

“We need Professor Lambert to move quickly,” River shouted back. Thirteen ran out to the corridor, peering into the gloom for any sign of movement.

“Come on, come on,” she muttered to herself. Finally, she saw movement. The slow shuffle of the sandmen before had been replaced with a strange gallop, bobbing up and down as the last of the group ran towards them.

“Come on!” Thirteen shouted, stretching her arms out. “I’ve got you!” As soon as their hands touched, she hauled her inside. Six buckets of pool water were thrown over the two. The professor collapsed and Thirteen hurriedly caught her, guiding her gently down to the ground. The last of the sand fell off, revealing the professor’s face as she slowly blinked her way back to consciousness.

“Professor?”

“Stevie?” Lambert opened her eyes. “Matt…where’s Ben?”

“Here,” Ben croaked. Lambert gave a sigh of relief.

“I’m so glad you’re ok. What happened?”

“Professor Lambert, I presume.” She looked up to see a haze of golden curls framing a very awed looking face, no matter how smug the words sounded.

“Uh, yes.” Lambert replied. “Who might you be?” The woman smiled and held out a hand.

“Doctor River Song, Archaeologist. I’m a huge fan.”

*****

“So it wasn’t an ancient tomb, then?” Matt asked as they exited the TARDIS.

“Woah,” Ben started, walking around the small blue box. He stuck his head back inside. Eleven walked out and closed the door behind him.

“Best not start,” he winked. “It’s a very long story.” Stevie watched the two and gave a bark of laughter.

“And somehow that isn’t the weirdest thing to happen to me today.”

“Ah, it’s been a few days actually. Took us a while to find you.” Eleven replied, looking sheepish. “But hopefully this will help.” He’d landed the TARDIS in a large storage cupboard so that no-one would see them. With a flourish, he opened the door.

“Flight ESA-589 to London Heathrow will be departing from Gate 3 in twenty minutes.” A tinny voice came over the tannoy.

“Cairo International  Airport?” Professor Lambert said, her eyebrows raised. Eleven patted down his pockets and pulled out four pieces of paper.

“Tickets home.” He held them out to the Professor, but didn’t let go. “Make me a promise,” she nodded, “destroy your notes. Don’t let anyone else go to that place, it’s too dangerous.” She paused, then nodded.

“I agree. What happened to us… I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” She took the tickets from his hand. “You have my word.” River took the Professor’s arm and guided her to one side.

“You know, I’d love to talk to you about your book on the societal changes in Ancient Greece. You made some arguments in there that were really revolutionary for your time.” Lambert stopped and looked at her.

“I haven’t written anything about Ancient Greece. It’s not my area.” River smiled wolfishly.

“Spoilers.”

*****

Meanwhile, Eleven had taken Thirteen’s arm and pulled her in the opposite direction. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say, silenced by the pain in his future’s eyes.

“We can’t leave them there.” Thirteen broke the silence. “The spiders, I mean. What if someone else finds them? We might not be there next time.”

“What can we do? Their ship is out of power and I’m pretty sure I fried something when I did my, er, modification.”

“We could tow it.” Eleven blinked at her. “We’ve done it before. And,” she leaned in closer so no-one else could hear. “Last time it was much bigger than just a ship.” Beside them the TARDIS gave a shuddering whine. Eleven reached out a hand to soothe her.

“I’m not sure the old girl could manage much more today. Creating that sound wave took a lot out of her.” A gleam came into Thirteen’s eye.

“What if she didn’t have to manage it today?” Eleven frowned. “What if she did it a few – ahem – years in the future?” Understanding dawned on Eleven’s face.

“You… you had a TARDIS all this time?”

“Pfft, when would _I_ be without a TARDIS?” Thirteen laughed, pointedly not thinking about her last regeneration.

“It would be easier with two. Less stress on the spider’s ship. It’s been buried a long time – who knows what state it’ll be in.” Thirteen smiled.

“Let’s do it then.”

The tannoy mumbled something again and Lambert broke off her conversation with River.

“Sounds like that’s us.” She called to her three students. She turned to River. “How can I thank you? I don’t even know all your names.”

“Well, you know who I am,” River smiled, then started pointing at the others. “That’s Graham, Ryan, Yaz, and my husband, The Doctor.” Each gave a little wave at their name. Thirteen tried to ignore her hearts plummeting to her boots.

“Who’s the other one? The one who caught me when I fell.” Lambert asked. Thirteen froze. Had the lipstick worked? Was it strong enough? She thought she’d put enough on, but what if her calculations had been off?

“No-one important.” River replied.

Thirteen closed her eyes. Why did she have to be right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAH we're so close to the end now! Next chapter will be...the final one! (*sob*)


	21. The Adventure Ends

River watched Lambert lead away her students, a smile playing on her face.

“Her works on Ancient Greece are seminal. A lot of my thesis stemmed from her research.” She remarked to no-one in particular.

“But she said that wasn’t her area.” Ryan replied, having watched the interaction between the two. River winked at him.

“Every idea has to come from somewhere.” Thirteen’s bright voice cut their conversation short.

“Can we hitch a lift?” She turned to Eleven, her face plastered with a wide smile. It didn’t reach her eyes.  Eleven didn’t know what to say with River present, so he looked down at his clogs and scuffed out a hesitant rhythm against the floor.

“Gene Kelly wouldn’t be impressed.” River said, walking over and putting a hand on his arm to quiet his feet. “Have you met him yet?” Eleven nodded.

“Same night as-” he broke off suddenly, cheeks pink. “Marilyn,” he finished under his breath. Thirteen winced inwardly. She’d never quite forgiven herself for that drunken mishap. River raised an eyebrow.

“Did I hear you mention my favourite blonde?” Thirteen’s hearts panged with jealousy. She wanted to be River’s favourite blonde. Eleven was blushing furiously and trying to come up with an excuse. River laughed and stepped forward to give him a kiss.

“I’ll have to ask her myself then.” She gave Graham, Ryan and Yaz a nod and pulled out her vortex manipulator. Ignoring her husband’s protests she blew him a kiss and disappeared leaving behind a faint smell of metal and static in the air.

“Cheap and nasty time travel.” The Doctors muttered to themselves. Yaz couldn’t help the small laugh at their similarities. Graham also smiled. It was still an alien concept to him, but he could see that it was still the Doctor standing before him. No matter what face they wore.

Eleven turned to Thirteen.

“Where to?”

*****

Ryan bounded into Thirteen’s TARDIS and gave one of the crystal pillars a hug.

“Nothing against that other TARDIS, but this one is way cooler.” He said.

“Careful Ryan, she’s the same TARDIS. And she can hear you.” Ryan whispered an apology and stroked the pillar.

“Please don’t give me cold showers for a week.” He added. Graham laughed at that; he’d personally experienced the TARDIS’s wrath. It wasn’t fun.

Thirteen busied herself at the console, pausing only to pump the biscuit pedal before carrying on her wild dance, biscuit forgotten in one hand. The engines groaned into life and her three friends grabbed the nearest pillars for support.

“Ready?” Thirteen asked. Yaz looked around, not sure who she was addressing. There was a small crackle, then Eleven’s voice came through the hidden speakers.

“Just deploying the – ah – gravity tether!” There was a brief pause. “That’s better,” Eleven said. “Socks are way better than clogs.” A smile graced Thirteen’s face and the TARDIS whirred in annoyance.

“I don’t know, I could see myself in them.” At that, the TARDIS gave a violent lurch. The Doctor grabbed at the console to stop herself from sliding away and gave a petulant frown at the ceiling.

“Ready now,” Eleven called. Thirteen smiled.

“Geronimo.” She slammed down a lever and the TARDIS jolted to a stop and strained against the gravity tether holding it to the ship. Ryan yelped as sparks flew from the walls.

With a loud groan, the TARDIS surged forward, dragging the spiders’ ship from its sandy grave. The three friends were thrown at the console and each grabbed whatever they could find to stay there. Thirteen looked at her fam with misty eyes. She wasn’t alone, and the knowledge made her battered hearts soar.

After a few minutes the journey seemed less chaotic and Yaz ventured a question.

“What are you doing?” Thirteen looked up at her and smiled, the first genuine smile since she’d last kissed River. Glancing at the doors, she raised a hand and clicked her fingers. The doors swung open with ease.

“Since when could you do that?”

“Wait, won’t we lose the air?” Ryan and Graham clamoured at the same time. Yaz simply walked to the doorway and looked out. The best person in the universe had two hearts and leaked strange golden energy when she was hurt; why wouldn’t she be able to open the doors of her ship with a single click?

Outside was the empty blackness of space, illuminated only by the light that spilled from the TARDIS. Gingerly she gripped the doorframe and leant out to look behind them. Her breath was taken away.

A strange shimmering line grew from the back of the TARDIS all the way back to a large silver saucer that glowed with exterior lights. Craning her head, she saw another line coming from the far side of the ship, connecting it with another blue box.

“Woah.” Came Ryan’s voice from above her. “Guess flying saucers had to come from somewhere.” Yaz giggled, imagining some long-forgotten hieroglyphs depicting a flying saucer, and the scribes that had to draw them.

Thirteen pushed the lever back and the shimmering line faded from view as the TARDIS slowly moved out of the way of the now drifting ship, spinning so that her strays could catch one last glimpse of the ship they’d helped to save.

“What will you do now?” Thirteen quietly asked once she was sure her friends were too occupied to overhear.

“Don’t you remember?” Eleven gave a dry chuckle. Thirteen smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Eleven blurted. “About River.” Thirteen paused.

“I’m sorry too,” she replied.

In his TARDIS, Eleven looked over at the empty space Amy and Rory used to occupy. He sniffed loudly and looked back at his console.

“I’d best be off then. Don’t think I’m needed any more.”

“Doctor,” something in Thirteen’s voice made him stop. “You’re always needed.” Eleven huffed and threw a lever, his TARDIS slowly pulsing away from view.

Yaz, Ryan and Graham pulled themselves back in and turned to the Doctor who had busied herself with some buttons on the other side of the console.

“What now, Doc?” Graham asked.

“Just a sec,” she pressed a few more buttons. “Ha!”

“What?” Ryan asked.

“Just sent our friends back there a little gift. Enough algae cubes to last them until they reach the nearest planet and solar cells to power up their engines enough so they don’t crash again.”

“What’s… on the nearest planet?” Yaz asked, one eyebrow quirked up in amusement.

“Plants.” The Doctor replied. “Lots and lots of plants.”

“But they were eating people. Doesn’t mean they eat, you know, meat?” Graham frowned.

“Never too late to go veggie, Graham.” The Doctor kept spinning around the console, never quite pausing for long enough to look at them. “Want to go home? I reckon you lot deserve a break after all that.”

“Yeah,” Graham sighed. He didn’t like to admit it, but that last adventure had taken a lot out of him.

“Ryan? Yaz?”

“Should probably go with Gramps.” Ryan said.

“Just to check there are no more spiders.” Yaz said with a smile. The Doctor nodded and pulled a lever, keeping her eyes locked with the console. As the engines whirred into life once more, she focused on counting her breaths.

One. Two. Three.

Keeping them even.

Four. Five. Six.

Just until her fam had left.

Seven. Eight.

Don’t cry yet.

 

_Fin_

_If you want the happy ending, keep reading._

 

*****

The doors of the TARDIS shut behind Yaz with a click. A click, and the Doctor was alone. Alone with her thoughts. Alone with her ghosts.

She’d promised herself she’d leave her old life behind, start anew with this fresh face. But that was so hard with River, her glorious River appearing in her life once more, bringing up all sorts of memories and pain.

And happiness. Despite her tears, the Doctor smiled. How she’d missed her wife. She closed her eyes and remembered the happiest moments; the trust, the kisses, their time on Darillium.

Four knocks jolted her from her reverie.

Wiping her face on her sleeve, she took a few shaky breaths. Someone had probably forgotten their keys or something and she didn’t want her fam asking awkward questions, much as she loved them. Some things she wanted to keep to herself, and that was ok, she decided.

It was a few moments before she felt ready to cross to the doors and open them up, ready with a bright smile.

Outside there was no-one. Frowning, the Doctor looked around but there weren’t even any passing strangers. She stepped out to walk behind the TARDIS, perhaps someone was playing an elaborate prank on her. She’d learnt about them from Ryan and his love of prank youtube videos. They didn’t quite make sense to her-

She tripped over something at her feet and landed hard on the ground. Her frown grew deeper as she rolled over and sat up to look at what she’d stumbled over.

A pair of clogs had been placed facing the TARDIS doors and from the looks of them, they would perfectly fit her feet. They were tied together with a red ribbon and a note was attached.

 

Hello Sweetie x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this is the end. Sorry it took a while to upload, life got in the way and I did a bunch of re-writes because I knew I had to get this right.  
> Thank you to all of you who have stuck with this fic and read it all the way to the end, honestly the hits and the kudos and the comments (omg 6 pages guys!) have utterly stunned me. It was an absolute joy to write with your support spurring me on.  
> Woodchuck (the next in this series) is due for a chapter three soon so hopefully if you like this then you'll like that.
> 
> Once again, thank you all for your support. You're all fantastic.


End file.
